Communication System

ABSTRACT

A transit system including a system data processor in communication with a driver data processor of a driver electronic device and a rider data processor of a rider electronic device. The system data processor receives vehicle information of a vehicle from the driver. data processor. The vehicle information includes a vehicle route and a geolocation of the vehicle. The system data processor receives a geolocation of a rider electronic device from the rider data processor, and sends the vehicle information and advertisement information over a communication network to the rider data processor. The advertisement information is based on the vehicle information and the geolocation of the rider electronic device.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to communication systems, such as atransportation communication system between drivers and riders via aweb-based application on a mobile computing device.

BACKGROUND

Mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablet PCs, cellular telephones,portable digital assistants and other handheld devices have becomewidespread and essential in personal and business use. Mobile deviceswere mainly used for voice communication, but recently they have becomea reliable source for performing a range of business and personal tasks.The mobile devices are useful to obtain information by either making aphone call to an information center or accessing the internet andinputting a search query for obtaining the requested information. Theinformation requested may be information relating to a location of arestaurant, hotel, shopping center, or any other information, such ascustomer reviews or hours of operation. Some devices include a globalpositioning system (GPS) that provides the user with their location onan electronic map being displayed on the GPS. In addition, some devicesallow the user to enter a specific address or search for a specificlocation and the mobile device navigates the user to the specificlocation.

Some smartphones are light in weight and include a display with either atouch input or a miniature keyboard for allowing the user to quicklytype emails, text messages, or search ques. Smartphones have becomeaccessible, widely used, and greatly relied on for various tasks (e.g.,calendar, maps, navigation, travel, etc. Moreover, web-basedapplications may now accommodate tasks capable of being performed on asmartphone. Web-based applications are programs designed to be usedentirely within a browser and may allow a user to create documents, editpictures, listen to music, and shop at a specific store withoutinstalling complicated software. Other examples of web-basedapplications include calendars, phonebooks, maps, navigation, gaming,etc.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the disclosure provides a transit system including asystem data processor in communication with a driver data processor of adriver electronic device (e.g., computer, portable electronic device,smartphone, tablet PC, cellular telephone, portable digital assistant)and a rider data processor of a rider electronic device (e.g., computer,portable electronic device, smartphone, tablet PC, cellular telephone,portable digital assistant). The system data processor receives vehicleinformation (e.g., a vehicle route and a geolocation of the vehicle) ofa vehicle from the driver data processor. The system data processorreceives a geolocation of a rider electronic device from the rider dataprocessor, and sends the vehicle information and advertisementinformation over a communication network to the rider data processor.The advertisement information is based on the vehicle information andthe geolocation of the rider electronic device.

Implementations of the disclosure may include one or more of thefollowing Features. In some implementations, the system data processordetermines the advertisement information based on a rider profileassociated with a rider using the rider electronic device. The riderprofile includes at least one of a rider route history, a rider traveltime history, a predicted rider route, a predicted ride time, orconsumption preferences. Additionally, the system data processordetermines the advertisement information based on a correlation betweenattributes of available advertisement offers and attributes of the riderprofile. The attributes of available advertisement offers includes atleast one of an offer location, an offer time, an offer price, or anoffer phone number. The attributes of the rider profile may include atleast one of a rider location, a rider time of travel, a rider budget,rider transportation preferences, or rider advertisement preferences.

In some examples, the vehicle information further includes a servicestatus being an in-service status or an out-of service status. When theservice status is out-of-service, the system data processor receives amessage associated with the out-of service status and an out-of servicetime indicating a duration of the out-of-service status. The vehicleinformation may include a rider count of the vehicle. The rider countbeing a number of riders on the vehicle or a rider status indicatingthat the vehicle has zero riders or a maximum number of riders.

In some implementations, the system data processor communicates to therider data processor or the driver data processor: map data fordisplaying an interactive map; vehicle route representation data foroverlaying on the interactive map a representation of the vehicle route;and at least one of vehicle representation data for overlaying on theinteractive map a representation of the vehicle or rider representationdata for overlaying on the interactive map a representation of the riderelectronic device. The advertisement information may includeadvertisement representation data for overlaying on the interactive mapa representation of the advertisement information along the vehicleroute or at least near a location of an establishment associated withthe advertisement information. Additionally, the establishment may belocated along at least the vehicle route, a predicted rider route forthe rider electronic device, or a predicted destination of the riderelectronic device based on a riding history associated with a riderusing the rider electronic device.

In some implementations, the system data processor sends over acommunication network to the rider data processor historical data. Thehistorical data includes at least one of an average vehicle route timebased on a past time of day, an average vehicle route time based on acurrent time of day, a rider route history based on a time of day, arider retrieval history of offered advertisements, or a rider countbased on a time of day.

The system data processor may periodically receive the respectivegeolocation of the rider electronic device and the driver electronicdevice, for example, after a threshold period of time. Additionally oralternatively, the system data processor sends to the rider dataprocessor an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at either therider electronic device along the vehicle route or a designated vehiclestop along the vehicle route.

Another aspect of the disclosure provides a method of communicationwithin a transit system. The method includes receiving, at a computingdevice, vehicle information (e.g., vehicle route and geolocation) of avehicle. The method also includes receiving, at the computing device, ageolocation or transportation preference of a rider electronic device,and sending, from the computing device, the vehicle information andadvertisement information over a communication network to the riderelectronic device, the advertisement information based on the vehicleinformation and the geolocation or transportation preference of therider electronic device.

The method may include determining the advertisement information basedon a rider profile associated with a rider using the rider electronicdevice. The rider profile includes at least one of a rider routehistory, a rider travel time history, a predicted rider route, apredicted ride time, or consumption preferences. In some examples, theadvertisement information may be based on a correlation betweenattributes of available advertisement offers and attributes of the riderprofile. The attributes of available advertisement offers may include atleast one of an offer location, an offer time, an offer price or value,or an offer phone number; while the attributes of the rider profile mayinclude at least one of a rider location, a rider time of travel, arider budget, or rider advertisement preferences.

In some implementations, the vehicle information further includes aservice status, the service status being an in-service status or anout-of service status. The vehicle information may also include a ridercount of the vehicle, the rider count being a number of riders on thevehicle or a rider status indicating that the vehicle has zero riders ora maximum number of riders.

The method may further include sending from the computing device over acommunication network to the rider electronic device: map data fordisplaying an interactive map; vehicle route representation data foroverlaying on the interactive map a representation of the vehicle route;and vehicle representation data for overlaying on the interactive map arepresentation of the vehicle. Additionally or alternatively, the methodmay include sending from the computing device over a communicationnetwork to the rider electronic device: map data for an interactive map;vehicle route representation data for overlaying on the interactive mapa representation of the vehicle route; and rider representation data foroverlaying on the interactive map a representation of the riderelectronic device. Additionally or alternatively, the method may alsoinclude sending, from the computing device over a communication networkto the rider electronic device, historical data including at least oneof an average vehicle route time based on a past time of day, an averagevehicle route time based on a current time of day, a rider route historybased on a time of day, a rider retrieval history of offeredadvertisements, or a rider count based on a time of day.

Another aspect of the disclosure provides a method of communicationwithin a transit system. The method includes receiving, at leastperiodically at a computing device, vehicle information (e.g., vehicleroute and a geolocation) of a vehicle. The method includeselectronically displaying on a display of the computing device: aninteractive map; a vehicle route representation on the interactive map;and a real-time vehicle representation on the interactive map. Themethod also includes sending, at least periodically from the computingdevice, a geolocation of the computing device over a communicationnetwork to a service provider; and receiving, at least periodically atthe computing device, advertisement information from the serviceprovider based on the vehicle information and the geolocation of thecomputing device.

In some examples, the method further includes accessing a rider profileof a rider using the computing device. The rider profile including atleast one of a rider route history, a rider travel time history, apredicted rider route, a predicted ride time, or consumptionpreferences. The advertisement information may be based on a correlationbetween attributes of available advertisement offers and attributes ofthe rider profile. The attributes of available advertisement offers mayinclude at least one of an offer location, an offer time, an offerprice, or an offer phone number. In some examples, the attributes of therider profile include at least one of a rider location, a rider time oftravel, a rider budget, or rider advertisement preferences.

In some examples, the vehicle information further includes a servicestatus, the service status being an in-service status or an out-ofservice status. Additionally or alternatively, the vehicle informationmay include a rider count of the vehicle the rider count being a numberof riders on the vehicle or a rider status indicating that the vehiclehas zero riders or a maximum number of riders.

Yet another aspect of the disclosure provides a portable electronicdevice. The portable electronic device includes a geolocation component,a data processor and a display. The geolocation component determines ageolocation of the portable electronic device. The data processor is incommunication with the geolocation component and is configured to:receive vehicle information (e.g., a vehicle route and a geolocation) ofthe vehicle; send the geolocation of the portable electronic device overa communication network to a service provider; and receive advertisementinformation from the service provider based on the vehicle informationand the geolocation of the computing device. The display is incommunication with the data processor and displays a user interface. Theuser interface includes: a route selector; an interactive map; a routerepresentation on the interactive map, the route representationcorresponding to a route selected on the route selector; a real-timedevice representation on the interactive map at a location correspondingto the geolocation of the portable electronic device; at least onereal-time vehicle representation on the interactive map of any vehiclesassociated the selected route; and an advertisement representation onthe interactive map representative of the advertisement information.

In some examples, the advertisement representation is overlain on theinteractive map along the selected vehicle route or at least near alocation of an establishment associated with the advertisementinformation. The establishment may be located along at least the vehicleroute, a predicted rider route for the rider electronic device, or apredicted destination of the rider electronic device based on a ridinghistory associated with a rider using the rider electronic device. Insome examples, the data processor accesses a rider profile of a riderusing the portable electronic device. The rider profile includes atleast one of a rider route history, a rider travel time history, apredicted rider route, a predicted ride time, or consumptionpreferences. The advertisement information may be based on a correlationbetween attributes of available advertisement offers and attributes ofthe rider profile. The attributes of available advertisement offers mayinclude at least one of an offer location, an offer time, an offerprice, or an offer phone number. The attributes of the rider profile mayinclude at least one of a rider location, a rider time of travel, arider budget, or rider advertisement preferences.

The portable vehicle information may include a service status, theservice status being an in-service status or an out-of service status.Additionally or alternatively, the vehicle information may include arider count of the vehicle, the rider count being a number of riders onthe vehicle or a rider status indicating that the vehicle has zeroriders or a maximum number of riders.

Yet another aspect of the disclosure provides a transit system thatincludes at least one driver electronic device and one rider electronicdevice, and a service provider device. Each electronic device (driverand rider) includes a data processor; a geolocation component incommunication with the data processor and determining a geolocation ofthe electronic device; and a display in communication with the dataprocessor and displaying a user interface. The user interface includes:a route selector; an interactive map; a route representation on theinteractive map, the route representation corresponding to a routeselected on the route selector; and a real-time device representation onthe interactive map at a location corresponding to the geolocation ofthe electronic device. The service provider device includes a dataprocessor in communication with the data processor of the driverelectronic device and the data processor of the rider electronic device.The data processor of the service provider device receives vehicleinformation (e.g., vehicle route and geolocation) of a vehicle from thedriver data processor. The data processor of the service provider devicereceives a geolocation of the rider electronic device from the riderdata processor; and sends the vehicle information and advertisementinformation over a communication network to the rider data processor.The advertisement information is based on the vehicle information andthe geolocation of the rider electronic device.

In some implementations, the display of each electronic device displaysat least one real-time vehicle representation on the interactive map ofany vehicles associated with any driver electronic devices on theselected route. In some examples, the data processor of the serviceprovider determines the advertisement information based on a riderprofile associated with a rider using the rider electronic device, therider profile including at least one of a rider route history, a ridertravel time history, a predicted rider route, a predicted ride time, orconsumption preferences. The data processor of the service providerdetermines the advertisement information based on a correlation betweenattributes of available advertisement offers and attributes of the riderprofile. The attributes of available advertisement offers may include atleast one of an offer location, an offer time, an offer price, or anoffer phone number. The attributes of the rider profile may include atleast one of a rider location, a rider time of travel, a rider budget,or rider advertisement preferences. In some examples, the advertisementinformation includes advertisement representation data for overlaying onthe interactive map a representation of the advertisement informationalong the vehicle route or at least near a location of an establishmentassociated with the advertisement information. The establishment may belocated along at least the vehicle route, a predicted rider route forthe rider electronic device, or a predicted destination of the riderelectronic device based on a riding history associated with a riderusing the rider electronic device.

Yet another aspect of the disclosure provides a method that includesreceiving, at a computing device, a user profile including a geolocationof a user electronic device. The method includes sending, from thecomputing device, advertisement information of an advertisement provider(e.g., restaurant) over a communication network to the user (e.g., rideror driver) electronic device. The advertisement information is based onthe user profile, and has one or more user selectable portions andincludes an advertisement location. The method further includesreceiving a selection of a user selectable portion from the user andassociating a time and a geolocation with the selection. The method alsoincludes storing the selectable portion of the advertisement informationand associated time and geolocation of the selection in non-transitorymemory of the computing device.

In some examples, the user profile includes at least one of a user routehistory, a user travel time history, a predicted user travel route, apredicted user travel time, consumption preferences, a user budget, usertransportation preferences, or user advertisement preferences. Themethod further includes determining a distance between the geolocationassociated with the selection of the user selectable portion and theadvertisement location. When the distance is within a first thresholddistance, the method includes charging the advertisement provider afirst fee rate. When the distance is within a second threshold distance,the method includes charging the advertisement provider a second feerate.

In some implementations, the method includes sending, from the computingdevice, advertisement information to the user electronic device based onthe selection of a user selectable portion of the advertisementinformation and associated time and geolocation of the selection. insome examples, the user selectable portions include at least one of aname of the advertisement provider, hours of operation, an address, auniform resource locator link to the address, an offer uniform resourcelocator ink, or a purchase uniform resource locator link.

Additionally or alternatively, the advertisement information may includemultiple user selectable portions, tracking a conversion of the userwhen the user selects multiple user selectable portions of theadvertisement information. Additionally or alternatively, the method mayfurther include tracking a conversion of a user when the user executed apurchase operation through the advertisement information, or accepts anoffer of the advertisement information.

The details of one or more implementations of the disclosure are setforth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Otheraspects, features, and advantages will be apparent from the descriptionand drawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an exemplary overview of the communicationbetween a rider, driver and service provider.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an exemplary overview of the communicationbetween drivers driving vehicles and the riders riding the vehicles.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an exemplary overview of the communicationbetween the riders and drivers of different types of vehicles.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an exemplary driver application.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an exemplary interaction decision tree ofa driver electronic device.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an exemplary log-in view of a driverapplication.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are schematic views of an exemplary driver home screenview.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of an exemplary rider application.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of an exemplary rider home screen view.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of an exemplary driver settings screen view.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of an exemplary detailed rideradvertisement.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of an exemplary overview of a correlationbetween attributes of a rider and attributes of an availableadvertisement.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of an exemplary overview of thecommunication between a rider, driver and service provider.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view of an exemplary arrangement of operationsfor communicating between drivers driving vehicles and riders riding thevehicles.

FIG. 15 is a schematic view of an exemplary arrangement of operationsfor communicating between drivers driving vehicles and riders riding thevehicles.

FIG. 16 is a schematic view of an exemplary arrangement of operationsfor tracking user conversion.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, in some implementations, a transportationcommunication system 100 includes a network 10, a base station 16, andmultiple terminals 200, 300, 400. The terminals 200, 300, 400 mayinclude a driver terminal 200, a rider or user terminal 300, and aservice provider terminal 400. Each terminal 200, 300, 400 may be aportable electronic device, such as a wireless device (e.g., cellularphone, smartphone, personal digital assistant, personal computer, awireless pad) or any other device capable of sending and receivinginformation via the network 10. The portable electronic devices may eachhave a display 204, 304, 404. Each terminal may also have its respectivenon-transitory memory 210, 310, 410.

The network 10 may include any type of network that allows sending andreceiving communication signals, such as a wireless telecommunicationnetwork, a cellular telephone network, a time division multiple access(TDMA) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, Globalsystem for mobile communications (GSM), a third generation (3G) network,fourth generation (4G) network, a satellite communications network, andother communication networks. The network 10 may include one or more ofa Wide Area Network (WAN), a Local Area Network (LAN), and a PersonalArea Network (PAN). In some examples, the network 10 includes acombination of data networks, telecommunication networks, and acombination of data and telecommunication networks. The terminals 200,300, 400 communicate with the network 10 by sending and receivingsignals (wired or wireless) via the base station 16. In some examples,the driver and rider terminals 200, 300 may be in communication with aglobal positioning system (GPS) satellite 12, global navigationsatellite system (GNSS) or the like, for determining the position of thedriver and rider terminals 200, 300. In some examples, the network 10provides access to cloud computing resources, which may beelastic/on-demand computing and/or storage resources available over thenetwork 10. The term ‘cloud’ services generally refers to a serviceperformed not locally on a user's device, but rather delivered from oneor more remote devices accessible via one or more networks 10. Since thedriver or rider's devices 200, 300 do not need to know or learn thedetails of what is happening at the one or more remote devices, theservice appears to be delivered from a ‘cloud’ from the perspective ofthe user's device. The drivers 20 and the riders 30 may access cloudstorage 14 (e.g., non-transitory memory) via a web browser or aweb-based application in communication to with the network 10 to accessdata relating to each user remotely stored by the cloud storage 14.

The service provider 400 may include a system data processor (e.g.,computing device) 402 having a non-transitory memory 410. The serviceprovider 400 provides the driver 20 with a driver application 230 (FIG.4) for entering vehicle information 216 to be communicated via thenetwork 10 to the riders 30. In addition, the service provider 400provides the riders 30 with a rider application 330 (e.g., a mobileapplication 330 a or a web-site application 330 b) (FIG. 8) allowing therider 30 to view the vehicle information 216 provided by the vehicledrivers 20. The user application 330 may retrieve user information 316,which may include, but is not limited to, user provided information orbehavioral information captured by monitoring and/or tracking userlocation and behavioral trends to provide better information to therider 30. In addition, the service provider 400 monitors the vehicleinformation 216 and the rider information 316 and populates historicaldata 412 (FIG. 13), which includes but is not limited to, an averagevehicle route time based on a past time of day, an average vehicle routetime based on a current time of day, a rider route history based on atime of day, a rider retrieval and interaction history of offeredadvertisements, or a rider count history based on a time of day.Therefore, the computing device 402 of the service provider 400communicates with a driver data processor 202 of a driver electronicdevice 200 and a rider data processor 302 of a rider electronic device300.

As shown in FIG. 2, the service provider 400 facilitates the exchange ofinformation (vehicle information 216 and rider information 316) betweenthe riders 30 a-30 n via their portable electronic devices 300 aa-300 an(or a website 300 b) and the vehicle 22 drivers 20 a-20 n as each driver20 is driving a respective vehicle 22 (e.g., bus 22 aa-22 an as shown inFIGS. 2 and 3) and manually updating vehicle information 216 via aportable electronic device 200 a-200 n associated with each vehicle 22.The exchanged information 216, 316 aids the rider 30 in planning theirtransportation arrangements and plan accordingly especially if thetransportation vehicle 22 they are waiting for is behind schedule or isout of order. The exchanged information includes: (1) an interactive map234, 334; (2) a location of one or more vehicles 22 and a route may betransposed upon the map 234, 334; (3) rider count 248 of the one or morevehicles 22; and (4) merchant/advertising information that may beproximate one or more anticipated drop-off location along the transitroute (FIGS. 7A-9). The service provider 400 receives vehicleinformation 216 of a vehicle 22 driven by a driver 20 from the driverdata processor 202. In addition, the service provider 400 receives riderinformation 316, which may include a geolocation and/or transportationpreference of a rider electronic device 300 from the rider dataprocessor 302. When the service provider 400 receives the informationfrom drivers 20 and the riders 30, the service provider 400 sends thevehicle information 316 over the communication network 10 to the riderdata processor 202. The service provider 400 also sends targetedadvertisements 336 (FIG. 5) based on the vehicle information 216 and thegeolocation and/or transportation preference of the rider electronicdevice 300.

The service provider 400 may modify the threshold time for retrievingand downloading driver and rider information 216, 316. In some examples,the service provider 400 considers several factors for determining anuploading rate and a downloading rate, which both may be changed. Thesefactors may include but are not limited to, the amount of data and thenumber of database entries and information granularity. Additionally,the rate of retrieving driver information 216 may be different than therate of retrieving rider information 316 because the service provider400 needs accurate location of the driver 20 in comparison to the rider20. Similarly, the rate of sending other vehicle and user information216, 316 to the driver 20 may be different than the rate of sendinginformation to the rider 30.

Referring to FIG. 3, in some implementations the service provider 400may facilitate communication between the riders 30 and the drivers 20 ofmultiple transportation vehicles 22 such as, but not limited to, a bus22 aa, a metro or a train 22 ab, a taxi or cab 22 ac, and/or a trolleyor shuttle bus 22 ad. In some examples, the rider 30 may choose whichmode of transportation to use based on the closest one to his/hercurrent location 33 (FIG. 9) or based on an estimated time of arrival tothe rider's 30 destination or hours of operation of the mode oftransportation. For example, the metro or train 22 ab may be closedafter a certain time of day and the only available transportation is ataxi or a cab 22 ac.

Referring back to FIG. 2, in some implementations, the service provider400 provides additional features. These additional features 440 may beaccessible by logging on to the service provider website 430 andproviding a passcode or by using a mobile application (e.g., driverapplication 230 or rider application 330). The additional features 440may include an advertisement database 442, which includes availableadvertisements 443, which allows the service provider 400 to update thetargeted advertisements 336 (FIG. 9) sent to the riders 30 (described indetails below). In some examples, the service provider 400 may specifypush notifications to be sent to the riders 30 informing them that avehicle 22 is running late, pickup location has been changed, etc.Another feature is the route management feature 444 for managing fleetvehicles 22, which allows the service provider 400 to create additionalvehicle routes that are available for the drivers 20 to select whenlogging on the driver application 230. The service provider 400 mayinclude a route name and/or a route color. In some examples, the serviceprovider 400 may view route management information 444, which includes,but is not limited to, information relating to the route such as, thetime it takes to complete the route, the time of day that requires theshortest time to complete the route versus the time of day that it takesthe most time to complete the route. In some examples, the serviceprovider 400 may manage the vehicles 22 and update or modify the routethat they take from a first location to a second location. The routemanagement feature 444 allows for the configuration and selection of thetransportation routes and the viewable attributes (e.g., vehicle icons,route color, route name), in addition to viewing historical data reportsfor vehicles 22 and riders.

Another feature 440 may be the vehicle management feature 446, whichallows the service provider 400 to view all the current vehicles 22 thatare on the road within a relevant transportation system. In addition,the service provider 400 may filter which vehicles 22 to view. Forexample, a service provider 400 may want to view all the vehicles 22that are out-of service or in-service. Moreover, the user 20 serviceprovider 400 may filter the vehicles 22 that are out-of-service based onthe time they have been out-of-service and read the comments that theother driver 20 added in the out-of-service field 245 a indicating thereason the vehicle 22 is out-of-service.

The service provider 400 may filter the information that the additionalfeatures 440 provide based on historical data, which includes at leastone of an average route time based on the time of day, a rider routehistory based on the time of day, a rider's retrieval history of andinteractions with the advertisements offered, or the rider count basedon the time of day.

In some examples, the service provider 400 may include one or moretransportation systems 402; each transportation system 402 includesdifferent transportation options, such as different vehicles 22,different routes, and different features. Each transportation system 402has features dedicated to its drivers 20 or riders 30 that is notaccessible to drivers 20 or riders 30 of another transportation system402. For examples, a first transportation system 402 may include ashuttle bus 22 ad for driving riders from a first building to a secondbuilding. A second transportation system 402 may include a bus 22 aadriving its riders 30 through the city. Therefore, a rider 30 using thefirst transportation system 402 will not have access to the informationthat the second transportation system 402 provides and vice versa.Similarly, the advertisements 443 may be different for eachtransportation system 402. This application discusses a service providerhaving one transportation system 402; however, similar configurationsare available for each additional transportation system 402.

With continued reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, in some implementations, thedriver 20 may use a portable electronic device 200 to communicate driverinformation 216 to the rider 30 via the network 10 and the serviceprovider 400. The driver 20 may download a driver application 230provided by the service provider 400. The driver 20 may go to a websiteprovided by the service provider 400 and request from the serviceprovider 400 that the driver application 230 be downloaded on thedriver's portable electronic device 200. In some examples, the driver'sportable electronic device 200 includes the driver application 230,which may be stored on the portable electronic device 200 havingnon-transitory memory 210.

Referring to FIG. 4, in some implementations, the driver application 230includes several features, such as geolocation services 232 (e.g., thedriver's location 232 a), an interactive map 234, non-transitory memory210 (e.g., driver profile 212, which includes the driver identificationnumber 221 a and any settings associated with the driver 20), routeinformation 214 (e.g., the planned route that the vehicle 22 will take),vehicle status 244 (e.g., in-service, out-of-service, or full), othervehicles statuses and location 246 (e.g., in-service, out-of-service, orfull on the interactive map 234), and rider count 248. The driverapplication 230 may include other features not listed such as, trafficinformation and/or weather information.

Geolocation services 232 identify a geographic location 232 a of anobject (e.g., mobile computing device 402 or computer terminal).Geolocation services 232 use a positioning system to determine aspecific location 232 a, such as, a street intersection or an addressrather than a set of geographic coordinates. Internet and computergeolocation may be performed by associating a geographic location withthe internet protocol address, machine access control (MAC) address,radio frequency identifier (REID), hardware embedded article orproduction number, embedded software number, Wi-Fi positioning system,device GPS coordinates, or other information.

In some examples, the geolocation services 232 include a location-basedservice (LBS), which is an information service for providing specificcontrols for location and time data. LBS is generally used in socialnetworking and as entertainment services. LBS includes services foridentifying a location of a person or an object. Some examples includelocating a friend, a family member or an employee or locating thenearest restaurant, park, or hotel. In some examples, LBS is used formobile commerce and for targeting users in a specific location withadvertisements and coupons of businesses in the user's vicinity based onthe user's location. LBS services may include personalized weatherservices and news services.

In some examples, where a driver 22 is not needed to drive the vehicle22, i.e., a driverless vehicle such as airport transportation orautonomous vehicles, the driver application 230 may be installed andconfigured to transmit the geolocation 232 of the vehicle 22. In suchinstances, the driver application 230 may be configured to automaticallyprovide a rider count 248 without a driver 20 to manually increase ordecrease the driver count 248. In this example, one or more driver'sportable electronic devices 200 are placed in a location on the vehicle22 where the riders 30 may view the display 204 of the portable device200. Different riders 30 may simultaneously interact with the driverapplication 230 on different displays 304 and in a different manner, Insome examples, a first rider 30 may be viewing an advertisement screen360 (discussed with respect to FIG. 11), while another rider 30 isviewing the home screen 340 and watching the vehicle 22 along a route.Although each rider 30 is interacting differently with the portableelectronic device 300, all the electronic devices 300 on that vehicle 22are synchronized is such a manner to transmit the same geolocation tothe service provider 400. The service provider 400 recognizes that theportable devices 300 are from the same autonomous vehicle 22. In someexamples, each rider 30 may have a seat on the autonomous vehicle 22,and each seat may have its own electronic device 200, 300. In suchinstances, the autonomous vehicle 22 may have an autonomous electronicdevice 300 that includes a driver application 230, and each rider 30 mayhave a rider electronic device 300 (part of the vehicle 22) having therider application 330. The driver and/or rider application 230, 330being used on the autonomous vehicles 22 may also display the currentposition of the vehicle 22, the weather, advertisements, etc.

Referring to FIGS. 5-7B, in some implementations, before the driver 20starts his/her route, the driver 20 launches the driver application 230on the portable electronic device 200, which displays a log-in screen220 on the driver display 204. The log-in screen 220 prompts the driver20 to enter specific vehicle information 221. The vehicle information221 may include a vehicle driver identification number 221 a, a vehiclenumber 221 b, and the vehicle odometer 221 c. The service provider 400may request additional information from the driver 20. In addition, thevehicle driver 20 selects a route (e.g., Route A-F) from a predeterminedroute list 222 that the driver 20 may take. The driver 20 may input theinformation 221, 222 via several methods including, but not limited to,a drop down list, a combo list, and/or a list view. In some examples, akeyboard 224 allows the driver 20 to type the information 220, 222 thatneeds to be entered. The portable electronic device 200 then sends thevehicle information 221 to the service provider 400. In some examples,the service provider non-transitory memory 410 stores the vehicleinformation 22, ready for retrieval by a rider 30. When the driver 20enters all the information 221, 222, the driver 20 logs into the driverapplication 230 by pressing or clicking a log-on button 226.

Referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B, once logged in, the driver device 200 adisplays a home screen 240 on the display 204. The home screen 240includes an interactive map 234 that allows the driver 20 to view, inreal-time the location of the vehicle 22 on the interactive map 234. Asused herein, real-time may include a delay having a threshold time(e.g., 3 second, which may be the rate at which the information 216, 316is updated to the service provider 400). A vehicle representation oricon 23 may represent each vehicle 22 on the interactive map 430. Thevehicle icon 23 moves on the interactive map 430 as the vehicle 22 ismoving in real-time. The vehicle icons 23 may have a color associatedwith the route that it is taking. For example, Route A may be green;Route B may be Red, etc. The driver 20 may zoom in and out of theinteractive map 430, view the interactive map 430 in different views(e.g., heading-up view, north-up view, or three dimensional view). Thedriver 30 may adjust the brightness and/or colors of the interactive map430. Other map features may also available.

In some examples, on the interactive map 234 there is an overlay ofinformation 241 containing static information buttons such as the nameof the selected route 242 and/or toggle buttons (e.g.,in-service/out-of-service 244 buttons) that allow the driver 20 tointeract with the driver application 230. The information 241 mayinclude displaying the name of the selected route (e.g., Route A fromFIG. 6) in a route name field 242. The selected route 242 is the currentroute that the driver 20 a is following. In addition to the selectedroute 242 being displayed, the interactive map 234 displays arepresentation 24 of the current route the driver 20 is following. Insome examples, the interactive map 234 displays other vehicles 22driving within the area and the routes 24 b they are taking.

In some examples, a driver 20 a drives a vehicle 22 a along a route 24a. The driver 20 a may select a status 244 of the vehicle 22 a, such aswhether the vehicle 22 a is out of service 244 a or in-service 244 b. Asshown, the vehicle status 244 is a toggle button, but may be other typesof input such as, but not limited to, a switch or radio button. In someexamples, when the driver 20 a switches to out-of-service status 244 a,the driver 20 a may be prompted to enter a reason for beingout-of-service. A keyboard 224 may be available for the driver 20 a totype any information. For examples, the driver 20 a may beout-of-service 224 a because the driver 20 a is taking a break orbecause the vehicle 22 a is having mechanical problems. The driver 20 amay indicate in an out-of-service field 245 a the reason. The serviceprovider 400 may decide whether to relate that information to the riders30 via the rider application 330. When the vehicle 22 a isout-of-service 224 a, an out-of-service vehicle icon 25 a is displayedon the interactive map 234 of the current driver 20 a and other drivers20. Additionally, when the driver 20 a indicates that the vehicle 22 ais out-of-service 224 a, a timer 245 c is shown indicating the durationof time the vehicle 22 a has been out of service 224 a.

The driver 20 a may select to view the status and location 246 of othervehicles 22 that are within the interactive map 234 or may select toonly view the vehicle 22 a on the interactive map 234. Therefore, thedriver 20 a may toggle between a show all routes button 246 a and showmy route button 246 b. As shown, the status and location 246 is a togglebutton, but may be other types of input such as, but not limited to, aswitch or radio button.

The information 241 overlaid on the interactive map 234 may include arider count 248, which displays the number of riders 30 on the vehicle22. In some examples, the service provider 400 provides the driver 20with an interface 250 to update the rider count 248. The interface 250may include a first indicator 252 (e.g., an arrow) for incrementing therider count 248 and a second indicator 254 for decreasing the ridercount 248. When the driver 20 touches the first indicator 252 the ridercount 248 increases, and when the driver 20 touches the second indicator254, the rider count 248 decreases. The interface 250 may include asliding or feedback scale 256 where the driver 20 may move a needle 257of the sliding scale to increase or decrease the rider count 248. Insome examples, the rider count 248 is automatically updated when a rider30 rides the vehicle 22. The rider count 248 may also automaticallydecrement when a rider 30 gets off the vehicle 22.

The driver 20 may use a third indicator 258 indicating whether thevehicle 22 is full and has a maximum number of riders 30. When the thirdindicator 258 indicates that the vehicle 22 is full, a display (notshown) located on the outside of the vehicle 22 and visible by potentialriders 30 may also indicate that the vehicle 22 is full. Therefore, ifthe vehicle 22 a fails to stop at a specific stop, the future riders 30will know that the vehicle 22 did not stop because it is full. In someexamples, when the vehicle 22 is empty, the driver 20 may indicate usinga fourth indicator 260 that there are zero riders 30 on the vehicle 22.

When the driver 20 completes the route or shift, the driver 20 logs outof the driver application 230 by touching the logout button 227. Thedriver application 230 returns to the log in screen 220 (FIG. 6) and isready for the next driver 20 to log in. In some examples, before loggingout, the driver 20 may be prompted to enter the odometer value of thevehicle 22 at the end of the vehicle route or shift.

Referring to FIGS. 8-11, in some implementations, the rider 30 downloadsthe rider application 330 provided by the service provider 400. Therider 30 may download the application 330 on their smartphone or tablet300 a by either going to a website of the service provider 400 andrequesting that the service provider 400 send the application 330 totheir smartphone 300 a, or by using their smartphone 300 a to search forthe application 330 a on a search engine and directly download theapplication 330 on their smartphone 300 a.

The user application 330 includes several features, such as geolocationservices 332 (similar to the geolocation services described above withrespect to the driver 20, which may include LBS), an interactive map334, advertisements 440, non-transitory storage 310 (e.g., for a riderprofile 312 and vehicle trip information 314), in some examples, theuser application 330 may use the cloud storage 14. The geolocationservices 332 provide a user location 332 a, which in some examples, maybe part of the rider profile 312. The rider application 230 may includeother features not listed such as, traffic information and/or weatherinformation. The rider application 330 gives the rider 30 severalfeatures including: a map 334 including user-selectable routes from aplurality of available routes; a passenger capacity status (e.g., FULL)of each vehicle 22 traveling along the selected route(s); one or morelocation-based merchant offers; proximate one or more drop-off locationsalong the selected route(s); and a displayed targeted advertisement 336in response to selecting one of the location-based merchant offers.

Similar to the driver interactive map 234, the rider interactive map 334allows the rider 30 to view, in real-time, the location of a vehicle 22and an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle 22 to a vehicle stop 28or a current location 33 of the rider 30, or at any other locationspecified by the rider 30. The vehicle icons 23 a are displayed on therider interactive map 334 and move on the interactive map 334 as thevehicle 22 is moving along a route in real-time. The vehicle icons 23 amay have a different color associated with the vehicle icon 23 a that issimilar to a color of a route representation 24 displayed on the riderinteractive map 334. For example, Route A may be green; Route B may beRed, etc. In some examples, the rider 30 (or the service provider 400)may customize the colors of the vehicle icons 23 a and vehicle routerepresentations 24. The rider 30 may zoom in and out of the interactivemap 334, and view the interactive map 334 in different views (e.g.,heading-up view, north-up view, or three dimensional view). The rider 30may adjust the brightness and/or colors of the interactive map 334.Other map 334 features may also be available.

Referring to FIGS. 9-12, in some examples, when the rider 30 launchesthe application 330 on the electronic device 300, the rider 30 may viewa rider home screen 340 displayed on a display 304 of the electronicdevice 300. The home screen 340 includes an interactive map 334. In someexamples, the home screen 340 includes an information button 342. When arider 30 touches or presses the information button 342, a settingsscreen 350 is displayed on the display 304 of the rider's electronicdevice 300. The settings screen 350 allows the rider 30 to select theroutes he wants to be displayed on the home screen 340. For examples, ifa user always takes the vehicles 22 on Routes A-C, the rider 30 maychose not to view Routes D-F. In some examples, the settings screen 350provides the rider 30 with a list of the available routes 352 and, ifavailable, the icons 23 representing the vehicles 22 driving on theroutes. A sliding button 357 slides between an ON position 357 a and anOFF position 357 b and allows the rider 30 to select which routes fromthe route list 352 to be displayed on the interactive map 334. Theon/off button may be a toggle button or any other button indicating achange from an on position 357 a to and off positions 357 b. In someexamples, the settings screen 350 includes a list of the vehiclerepresentations 23 on the interactive map 334 indicating the color ofeach vehicle representation 23. When a rider 30 completes the settingselections, the rider 30 touches or selects the done button 343 toreturn to the rider home screen 340, The rider 30 may have user name andsometimes a password associated with his rider profile 312. The rider 30may update his username and or password by logging in on a website 430of the service provider 400. A rider 30 may also change other settingsto his rider profile 312 on the service provider website 430, which areincorporated in the profile associated with the rider application 330.

In some implementations, the service provider 400 sends the rider 30targeted advertisements 336 from the available advertisements 443 storedin the advertisement database 442 of the service provider 400. Thetargeted advertisements 336 may be based on the rider profile 312, whichmay include a route history 312 a, a travel time history 312 b,predicted route 312 c, predicted rider time 312 d, consumptionpreferences 312 e, and an offer retrieval history 312 f. For example, ifthe rider 30 specified an interest in restaurants, the application 330may provide information regarding restaurants within the vicinity of thevehicle route. The service provider 400 may track certain locations thatthe rider 30 frequents and establish a pattern of rider 30 behaviors.The pattern may be used to provide better advertisements to the rider30.

The targeted advertisements 336 may be displayed on the user display 304either as a banner 336 a (e.g., on the top portion or on the bottomportion of the display), or as an icons 336 b on the interactive map334. The rider 30 may select or touch the targeted advertisement 336 andan advertisement screen 360 is displayed on the display 304 of the riderelectronic device 300. The advertisement screen 360 provides moreinformation relating to the targeted advertisement 336 that the rider 30selected to view. As shown in FIG. 11, the advertisement screen 360provides at least one of the following targeted advertisement 336information: a name of the advertisement 361 (e.g., a restaurant name),hours of operations 362, an address 366, a link to get the directions368, and an offer link 370 to redeem an offer. In some examples, one ormore of the targeted advertisement information is user-selectable andprovides more information when selected by the rider 30.

A conversion rate is an important rate in internet marketing because itis the rate of visits to a specific website who takes action to gobeyond a casual content view or website visit, due to subtle or directrequest from marketers, advertisers, and content creators. As anexample, if a user visits a merchant's website and adds shopping itemsto a shopping cart, then later abandons the shopping cart, the merchantmay market a special offer (free shipping or discount) to convert thecustomer from leaving the shopping cart to buying the items in the cart.Thus the conversion rate is the number of goal achievement over thevisits. Optimizing conversion includes methods of creating webpages orlanding pages (i.e., a first page of a website that appears when a userclicks on a link located on a different website) to increase the numberof visitors that convert into customers. In some examples, the riderapplication 330 or the service provider 400 may track the advertisementconversion information 448 of a rider 30. Conversion information 448includes conversion information of multiple riders 30 stored on theservice provider non-transitory memory 410 (or on the cloud storage 14).The service provider 400 tracks and stores the time that a rider 30shows interest in an advertisement (e.g., by viewing or by clicking onthe advertisement 336 or any portions of the user selectable portion ofthe advertisement 336 as previously discussed) and the time ofconversion. The time of conversion may be a time when the rider 30 viewsthe advertisement 336, a time when the rider requests more informationabout the advertisement 336, or a time when the rider 30 makes apurchase through the advertisement 336. The service provider 400 maydivide the conversion actions into levels, where a level one conversionoccurs when the rider 30 makes a purchase through the advertisement 336,a level two conversion is when the rider requests more information aboutthe advertisement 336, and level three conversion is when the rider 30views the advertisement 336. In some examples, the service provider 400may track a rider's predefined series of actions (e.g., viewadvertisement 336, then view location via a map) and consider them as aseperate conversion level. For example, referring back to FIG. 11, if arider 30 selects the offer link 370 to redeem the offer, the riderapplication 330 or the service provider 400 tracks the conversionattempt. In addition the service provider 400 tracks the time andlocation 336 a when the rider interacts with the advertisement screen360. Such interaction includes the time each rider 30 selects any of thefollowing targeted advertisement 336 information: a name of theadvertisement 361 (e.g., a restaurant name), hours of operations 362, anaddress 366, a link to get the directions 368, an offer link 370 toredeem an offer, or any other information provided on the advertisementscreen 360. Tracking such information (i.e., the conversion information448 and the rider interactions with the targeted advertisements 336) isbeneficial to learn the trends and habits of different riders 30, andconsequently improving the quality of the targeted advertisement 336 andwhat targeted advertisements 336 are selected by the service provider400 to be sent to the riders 30. Moreover, tracking conversioninformation 448 helps the service provider 400 to understand the marketand how to effectively and efficiently target riders 30 with targetedadvertisements 336. Each rider application 330 (or driver application230) may be associated with a unique identifier for identifying therider 30 and associating the rider 30 with a specific rider application330. Thus, the service provider 400 tracks the unique rider identifierwhich combines the rider information (e.g., rider profile 312) and theirconversion information 408. The ability to collect, save, and analyzethe interaction of the rider 30 with the rider application 330 and therider location 332 a at the time of the interaction advantageouslyprovides the service provider 400 with an improved understanding of thebehavior of each rider 30.

In some implementations, the service provider 400 links a specificcoupon or advertisement view with a specific rider 30, their location,and/or time of viewing the advertisement. Moreover, when the rider 30acts on the offer, the service provider 400 can track the action thatled to the conversion This helps the service provider 400 determinewhich offers are most effective, at what time they are most effective,and/or what location they are most effective. The service provider 400may then learn the best location and/or time to provide data to a rider30. Since the service provider 400 is capable of tracking the identityand or location of a rider 30 at the time the rider 30 views theadvertisement 336 or at the time of the conversion such as at the timethe user requests more information relating to the deal or at the timethe user accepts or purchases the item offered by advertisement 336. Theservice provider 400 may charge a premium charge for advertisers wantingto advertise during a premium time or within a premium location. Apremium time being a time that the service provider 400 identified to bea time having more conversions than other times.

Moreover, the service provider 400 may track if the conversion wasperformed at or near the advertisement location (e.g., restaurant,coffee shop, . . . ). For example, if the conversion occurs within athreshold distance from the advertisement location of the advertisementor offer, then the service provider 400 may determine that the offer iseffective and may charge the offer provider a first fee rate forconversion due to the effectiveness of the offer. This allows theadvertisers to only pay a higher advertisement fee rate when a rider 30is converted based on a predefined set of parameters (e.g., location ofuser within the vicinity of the offer provider). The service provider400 may allocate a fist, second, third, or more fee rates, each beingbased on different distances from the advertiser. In some examples, therider application 330 or the service provider 400 checks if the rider 30is within a geographical range of the establishment (e.g., advertisementprovider) associated with advertisement, and the rider application 330or the service provider 400 only tracks the conversion if such acondition is met. If the rider application 330 is tracking theconversion, then the service provider 400 retrieves the conversioninformation for use in selecting the advertisements to send to the rider30.

Referring to FIG. 12, in some implementations, the service provider 400(i.e., the system data processor 402) determines which targetedadvertisements 336 to send the rider 30 from the availableadvertisements 443 in the advertisement database 442. A rider 30 mayhave a rider profile 312 (FIG. 8) associated with a rider 30 using therider electronic device 300. The rider profile 312 may include, but isnot limited to, a rider route history 312 a, a rider travel time history312 b, a predicted rider route 312 c, a predicted ride time 312 d,consumption preferences 312 e, or an offer retrieval history 312 f. Theconsumption preferences 312 e may be attributes that the rider 30 hasindicated that they like, such as an interest in restaurants only, orshopping, or groceries. The service provider 400 determines theadvertisement information 336 based on a correlation between attributesof available advertisements 443 available in the advertisement database442 and attributes of the rider profile 312. The attributes of availableadvertisements 443 may include an offer location 366, an offer time 362,an offer price, or an offer phone number. Some of the attributes of arider profile 312 may include, but are not limited to, a rider location332 a, a rider time of travel, a rider budget, or a rider advertisementpreference. A rider advertisement preferences may include the type ofadvertisements the rider 30 prefers to view (e.g., food and drink,beauty, health and fitness, home, etc.), the time and/or frequency thatthe advertisements may appear (e.g., between 8am and 8pm, or only whenthe application 230, 330 is being used).

The targeted advertisement information 336 includes advertisementrepresentation data for overlaying on the interactive map 334 arepresentation of the advertisement 336 information along the vehicleroute 24 or at least near a location of an establishment associated withthe targeted advertisement information 336. The establishment may belocated along at least the vehicle 22 route, a predicted rider route 312e for the rider electronic device 300, or a predicted destination of therider electronic device 300 based on a riding history associated with arider 30 using the rider electronic device 300.

Referring to FIG. 13-15, in some examples, the service provider 400communicates to the rider data processor 302 or the driver dataprocessor 202, map data 420 for displaying an interactive map 234, 344.The service provider 400 may communicate to the processors 202, 302vehicle representation data 422 for overlaying on the interactive map234, 334 a representation 24 of the vehicle route 214. In addition theservice provider 400 may communicate vehicle representation data 422 foroverlaying on the interactive map 234, 334 a representation 23 of thevehicle 22 or rider representation data 424 for overlaying on theinteractive map 234, 334 a representation of the rider electronic device33. In some examples, the service provider 400 sends to the driver dataprocessor 202 or the rider data processor 302 historical data 412, whichincludes, but is not limited to, an average vehicle route time based ona past time of day, an average vehicle route time based on a currenttime of day, a rider route history based on a time of day, a riderretrieval and interaction history of offered advertisements, or a ridercount history based on a time of day. The driver 20 or the rider 30 mayuse the historical data 412 to determine which route to take based on atime of day for example. The service provider 400 may send to the rider30 an estimated time of arrival of a vehicle 22 at either the riderelectronic device 300 along the vehicle route 24 or a designated vehiclestop 28 along a vehicle route 24.

FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary arrangement of operations for a method1400 of communicating information between a vehicle driver 20 and arider 30, using a service provider 400. The method 1400 includesreceiving 1402, at a computing device 402, vehicle information 216(e.g., vehicle route 214 and geolocation 232) of a vehicle 22. Themethod 1400 also includes receiving 1404, at the computing device 402, ageolocation 332 of a rider electronic device 300, and sending 1406, fromthe computing device 402, the vehicle information 216 and advertisementinformation 336 over a communication network 10 to the rider electronicdevice 300, the advertisement information 336 based on the vehicleinformation 216 and the geolocation 332 of the rider electronic device300. The method 1400 may include receiving a rider profile 312associated with a rider 30 using the rider electronic device 300 anddetermining the targeted advertisement information 336 based on a riderprofile 312. The rider profile 312 may include transportationpreferences. The method may include receiving 1408 rider interactioninformation with respect to the advertisement information 336. Themethod may include using the rider interaction information fordetermining future advertisement information 336.

The method 1400 may further include sending from the computing device402 over a communication network 10 to the rider electronic device 300:map 334 data for displaying an interactive map 334; vehicle route 214representation data for overlaying on the interactive map 334 arepresentation of the vehicle route 214; and vehicle 22 representationdata for overlaying on the interactive map 334 a representation of thevehicle 22. Additionally or alternatively, the method 1400 may includesending from the computing device 402 over a communication network 10 tothe rider electronic device 300: map 334 data for an interactive map334; vehicle route 214 representation data for overlaying on theinteractive map 334 a representation of the vehicle route 214; and rider30 representation data for overlaying on the interactive map 334 arepresentation of the rider electronic device 300. Additionally oralternatively, the method 1400 may also include sending, from thecomputing device 402 over a communication network 10 to the riderelectronic device 300, historical data 412 including at least one of anaverage vehicle route time based on a past time of day, an averagevehicle route time based on a current time of day, a rider route historybased on a time of day, a rider retrieval history of offeredadvertisements, or a rider count history based on a time of day.

FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary arrangement of operations for a method1500 of communicating information between a vehicle driver 20 and arider 30, using a service provider 400. The method 1500 includesreceiving 1502, at least periodically at a computing device 402, vehicleinformation 216 (e.g., vehicle route 214 and a geolocation 232) of avehicle 22. The method 1500 includes electronically displaying 1504 on adisplay of the computing device 402: an interactive map 234; a vehicleroute 214 representation on the interactive map 234; and a real-timevehicle representation 23 on the interactive map 234. The method 1500also includes sending 1506, at least periodically from the computingdevice 402, a geolocation 332 of the computing device 402 over acommunication network 10 to a service provider 400; and receiving 1508,at least periodically at the computing device 402, advertisementinformation 336 from the service provider 400 based on the vehicleinformation 216 and the geolocation 332 of the computing device 402 andoptionally the vehicle route 214. In some examples, the method 1500further includes accessing a rider profile 312 of a rider 30 using thecomputing device 402.

Referring back to FIGS. 14 and 15, the rider profile 312 includes atleast one of a rider route history 312 a, a rider travel time history312 b, a predicted rider route 312 c, a predicted ride time 312 d,consumption preferences 312 e, or an offer retrieval history 312 f. Insome examples, the targeted advertisement information 336 may be basedon a correlation between attributes of available advertisement 443stored on the advertisement database 442 and attributes of the riderprofile 312. The attributes of available advertisement 443 offers mayinclude at least one of an offer location 366, an offer time 362, anoffer price, or an offer phone number; while the attributes of the riderprofile 312 may include at least one of a rider location 332 a, a ridertime of travel, a rider budget, or a rider's advertisement preferences.

In some implementations, the vehicle information 216 further includes aservice status 244, the service status 244 being an in-service status244 b or an out-of service status 224 a. The vehicle information 216 mayalso include a rider count 248 of the vehicle 22, the rider count 248being a number of riders 30 on the vehicle 22 or a rider status 258indicating that the vehicle 22 has zero riders 260 or a maximum numberof riders 262.

Referring to FIG. 16, a method 1600 includes receiving 1602, at acomputing device 402, a user profile (e.g. driver 212 or rider 312)including a geolocation of a user 232 a, 332 a electronic device 200,300. The method 1600 includes sending 1604, from a computing device 402,advertisement information 336 of an advertisement provider over acommunication network 10 to the user electronic device 200, 300. Theadvertisement information 336 is based on the user profile 212, 312, andhas one or more user selectable portions (e.g., a name 361 of theadvertisement provider, hours of operation 362, an address 336, auniform resource locator link to the address 368, an offer uniformresource locator link, or a purchase uniform resource locator link 370.)and includes an advertisement location 366. The method 1600 furtherincludes receiving 1606 a selection of a user selectable portion fromthe user 20, 30 and associating 1608 a time and a geolocation with theselection. The method 1600 also includes storing 1610 the selectableportion of the advertisement information 336 and associated time andgeolocation of the selection in non-transitory memory of the computingdevice 410.

In some examples, the user profile 212, 312 includes at least one of auser route history 312 a, a user travel time history 312 b, a predicteduser travel route 312 c, a predicted user travel time 312 d, consumptionpreferences 312 e, a user budget, user transportation preferences, oruser advertisement preferences. The method 1600 further includesdetermining a distance between the geolocation associated with theselection of the user selectable portion and the advertisement location.When the distance is within a first threshold distance, the methodincludes charging the advertisement provider a first fee rate. When thedistance is within a second threshold distance, the method includescharging the advertisement provider a second fee rate. Other fee ratesmay also be available and each has different requirements (e.g.,distance or time).

In some implementations, the method 1600 includes sending, from thecomputing device 402, advertisement information 336 to the userelectronic device 200, 300 based on the selection of a user selectableportion of the advertisement information 336 and associated time andgeolocation of the selection.

Additionally or alternatively, the advertisement information 336 mayinclude multiple user selectable portions, tracking a conversion of theuser 20, 30 when the user 20, 30 selects multiple user selectableportions of the advertisement information 336. Additionally oralternatively, the method 1600 may further include tracking a conversionof a user 30 when the user 30 executed a purchase operation through theadvertisement information 336 or accepts an offer of the advertisementinformation 336.

Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here canbe realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry,specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits),computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.These various implementations can include implementation in one or morecomputer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on aprogrammable system including at least one programmable processor, whichmay be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data andinstructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storagesystem, at least one input device, and at least one output device.

These computer programs (also known as programs, software, softwareapplications or code) include machine instructions for a programmableprocessor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/orobject-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machinelanguage. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” and“computer-readable medium” refer to any computer program product,apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory,Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructionsand/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readablemedium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal.The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to providemachine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

Implementations of the subject matter and the functional operationsdescribed in this specification can be implemented in digital electroniccircuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including thestructures disclosed in this specification and their structuralequivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them. Embodiments ofthe subject matter described in this specification can be implemented asone or more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules ofcomputer program instructions encoded on a computer readable medium forexecution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus.The computer readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, amachine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition ofmatter effecting a machine-readable propagated signal, or a combinationof one or more of them. The term “data processing apparatus” encompassesall apparatus, devices, and machines for processing data, including byway of example a programmable processor, a computer, or multipleprocessors or computers. The apparatus can include, in addition tohardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computerprogram in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, aprotocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or acombination of one or more of them. A propagated signal is anartificially generated signal, e.g., a machine-generated electrical,optical, or electromagnetic signal that is generated to encodeinformation for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, softwareapplication, script, or code) can be written in any form of programminglanguage, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can bedeployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module,component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computingenvironment. A computer program does not necessarily correspond to afile in a file system. A program can be stored in a portion of a filethat holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in amarkup language document), in a single file dedicated to the program inquestion, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store oneor more modules, sub programs, or portions of code). A computer programcan be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computersthat are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites andinterconnected by a communication network.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can beperformed by one or more programmable processors executing one or morecomputer programs to perform functions by operating on input data andgenerating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performedby, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logiccircuitry, e.g., an FPGA programmable gate array) or an ASIC(application specific integrated circuit).

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read only memory ora random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer area processor for performing instructions and one or more memory devicesfor storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will alsoinclude, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer datato, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g.,magnetic, magneto optical disks, or optical disks. However, a computerneed not have such devices. Moreover, a computer can be embedded inanother device, e.g., a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant(PDA), a mobile audio player, a Global Positioning System (GPS)receiver, to name just a few. Computer readable media suitable forstoring computer program instructions and data include all forms ofnon-volatile memory, media and memory devices, including by way ofexample semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flashmemory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removabledisks; magneto optical disks; and CD ROM and DVD-ROM disks. Theprocessor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in,special purpose logic circuitry.

Implementations of the subject matter described in this specificationcan be implemented in a computing system that includes aback endcomponent, e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middlewarecomponent, e.g., an application server, or that includes a front endcomponent, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface ora web browser through which a user can interact with an implementationof the subject matter described is this specification, or anycombination of one or more such back end, middleware, or front endcomponents. The components of the system can be interconnected by anyform or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communicationnetwork. Examples of communication networks include a local area network(“LAN”) and a wide area network (“WAN”), e.g., the Internet.

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

While this specification contains many specifics, these should not beconstrued as limitations on the scope of the disclosure or of what maybe claimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific toparticular implementations of the disclosure. Certain features that aredescribed in this specification in the context of separateimplementations can also be implemented in combination in a singleimplementation. Conversely, various features that are described in thecontext of a single implementation can also be implemented in multipleimplementations separately or in any suitable sub-combination. Moreover,although features may be described above as acting in certaincombinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more featuresfrom a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from thecombination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multi-tasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the embodiments described above should not be understoodas requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should beunderstood that the described program components and systems cangenerally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products.

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it willbe understood that various modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, otherimplementations are within the scope of the following claims. Forexample, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in adifferent order and still achieve desirable results.

What is claimed is:
 1. A transit system comprising: a system dataprocessor in communication with a driver data processor of a driverelectronic device and a rider data processor of a rider electronicdevice, the system data processor: receiving vehicle information of avehicle from the driver data processor, the vehicle informationcomprising a vehicle route and a geolocation of the vehicle; receiving ageolocation of a rider electronic device from the rider data processor;and sending the vehicle information and advertisement information over acommunication network to the rider data processor, the advertisementinformation based on the vehicle information and the geolocation of therider electronic device.
 2. The transit system of claim 1, wherein thesystem data processor determines the advertisement information based ona rider profile associated with a rider using the rider electronicdevice, the rider profile comprising at least one of a rider routehistory, a rider travel time history, a predicted rider route, apredicted ride time, or consumption preferences.
 3. The transit systemof claim 2, wherein the system data processor determines theadvertisement information based on a correlation between attributes ofavailable advertisement offers and attributes of the rider profile. 4.The transit system of claim 3, wherein the attributes of availableadvertisement offers comprise at least one of an offer location, anoffer time, an offer price, or an offer phone number.
 5. The transitsystem of claim 3, wherein the attributes of the rider profile compriseat least one of a rider location, a rider time of travel, a riderbudget, a rider advertisement preferences, or a rider transportationpreferences.
 6. The transit system of claim 1, wherein the vehicleinformation further comprises a service status, the service status beingan in-service status or an out-of service status.
 7. The transit systemof claim 6, wherein if the service status is an out-of-service status,the system data processor further comprises: receiving a messageassociated with the out-of service status; and receiving an out-ofservice time indicating a duration of the out-of-service status.
 8. Thetransit system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle information furthercomprises a rider count of the vehicle, the rider count being a numberof riders on the vehicle or a rider status indicating that the vehiclehas zero riders or a maximum number of riders.
 9. The transit system ofclaim 1, wherein the system data processor communicates to the riderdata processor or the driver data processor: map data for displaying aninteractive map; vehicle route representation data for overlaying on theinteractive map a representation of the vehicle route; and at least oneof vehicle representation data for overlaying on the interactive map arepresentation of the vehicle or rider representation data foroverlaying on the interactive map a representation of the riderelectronic device.
 10. The transit system of claim 9, wherein theadvertisement information comprises advertisement representation datafor overlaying on the interactive map a representation of theadvertisement information along the vehicle route or at least near alocation of an establishment associated with the advertisementinformation.
 11. The transit system of claim 10, wherein theestablishment is located along at least the vehicle route, a predictedrider route for the rider electronic device, or a predicted destinationof the rider electronic device based on a riding history associated witha rider using the rider electronic device.
 12. The transit system ofclaim 1, wherein the system data processor sends over a communicationnetwork to the rider data processor historical data comprising at leastone of an average vehicle route time based on a past time of day, anaverage vehicle route time based on a current time of day, a rider routehistory based on a time of day, a rider retrieval and interactionhistory of offered advertisements, or a rider count based on a time ofday.
 13. The transit system of claim 1, wherein the system dataprocessor periodically receives the respective geolocation of the riderelectronic device and the driver electronic device after a thresholdperiod of time.
 14. The transit system of claim 1, wherein the systemdata processor sends to the rider data processor an estimated time ofarrival of the vehicle at either the rider electronic device along thevehicle route or a designated vehicle stop along the vehicle route. 15.A method comprising: receiving, at a computing device, vehicleinformation of a vehicle, the vehicle information comprising a vehicleroute and a geolocation of the vehicle; receiving, at the computingdevice, transportation preference and a geolocation of a riderelectronic device; and sending, from the computing device, the vehicleinformation and advertisement information over a communication networkto the rider electronic device, the advertisement information based onthe vehicle information and the geolocation of the rider electronicdevice.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising determining theadvertisement information based on a rider profile associated with arider using the rider electronic device, the rider profile comprising atleast one of a rider route history, a rider travel time history, apredicted rider route, a predicted ride time, or consumptionpreferences.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising determiningthe advertisement information based on a correlation between attributesof available advertisement offers and attributes of the rider profile.18. The method of claim 17, wherein the attributes of availableadvertisement offers comprise at least one of an offer location, anoffer time, an offer price, or an offer phone number.
 19. The method ofclaim 17, wherein the attributes of the rider profile comprise at leastone of a rider location, a rider time of travel, a rider budget, or arider advertisement preferences.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein thevehicle information further comprises a service status, the servicestatus being an in-service status or an out-of service status.
 21. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the vehicle information further comprises arider count of the vehicle, the rider count being a number of riders onthe vehicle or a rider status indicating that the vehicle has zeroriders or a maximum number of riders.
 22. The method of claim 15,further comprising sending from the computing device over acommunication network to the rider electronic device: map data fordisplaying an interactive map; vehicle route representation data foroverlaying on the interactive map a representation of the vehicle route;and vehicle representation data for overlaying on the interactive map arepresentation of the vehicle.
 23. The method of claim 15, furthercomprising sending from the computing device over a communicationnetwork to the rider electronic device: map data for an interactive map;vehicle route representation data for overlaying on the interactive mapa representation of the vehicle route; and rider representation data foroverlaying on the interactive map a representation of the riderelectronic device.
 24. The method of claim 15, further comprisingsending, from the computing device over a communication network to therider electronic device, historical data comprising at least one of anaverage vehicle route time based on a past time of day, an averagevehicle route time based on a current time of day, a rider route historybased on a time of day, a rider retrieval history of interaction withoffered advertisements, or a rider count based on a time of day.
 25. Amethod comprising: receiving, at least periodically at a computingdevice, vehicle information of a vehicle, the vehicle informationcomprising a vehicle route and a geolocation information of the vehicle;electronically displaying on a display of the computing device: aninteractive map; a vehicle route representation on the interactive map;and a real-time vehicle representation on the interactive map; sending,at least periodically from the computing device, a geolocation of thecomputing device over a communication network to a service provider; andreceiving, at least periodically at the computing device, advertisementinformation from the service provider based on the vehicle informationand the geolocation of the computing device.
 26. The method of claim 25,further comprising accessing a rider profile of a rider using thecomputing device, the rider profile comprising at least one of a riderroute history, a rider travel time history, a predicted rider route, apredicted ride time, or consumption preferences.
 27. The method of claim26, wherein the advertisement information is based on a correlationbetween attributes of available advertisement offers and attributes ofthe rider profile.
 28. The method of claim 27, wherein the attributes ofavailable advertisement offers comprise at least one of an offerlocation, an offer time, an offer price, or an offer phone number. 29.The method of claim 27, wherein the attributes of the rider profilecomprise at least one of a rider location, a rider time of travel, arider budget, or a rider advertisement preferences.
 30. The method ofclaim 25, wherein the vehicle information further comprises a servicestatus, the service status being an in-service status or an out-ofservice status.
 31. The method of claim 25, wherein the vehicleinformation further comprises a rider count of the vehicle, the ridercount being a number of riders on the vehicle or a rider statusindicating that the vehicle has zero riders or a maximum number ofriders.
 32. A portable electronic device comprising; a geolocationcomponent determining a geolocation of the portable electronic device; adata processor in communication with the geolocation component andconfigured to: receive vehicle information comprising a vehicle routeand a geolocation information of the vehicle; send the geolocation ofthe portable electronic device over a communication network to a serviceprovider; and receiving advertisement information from the serviceprovider based on the vehicle information and the geolocation of theportable electronic device; and a display in communication with the dataprocessor and displaying a user interface comprising: a route selector;an interactive map; a route representation on the interactive map, theroute representation corresponding to a route selected on the routeselector; a real-time device representation on the interactive map atlocation corresponding to the geolocation of the portable electronicdevice; at least one real-time vehicle representation on the interactivemap of any vehicles associated the selected route; and an advertisementrepresentation on the interactive map representative of theadvertisement information.
 33. The portable electronic device of claim32, wherein the advertisement representation is overlain on theinteractive map along the selected vehicle route or at least near alocation of an establishment associated with the advertisementinformation.
 34. The portable electronic device of claim 33, wherein theestablishment is located along at least the vehicle route, a predictedrider route for the rider electronic device, or a predicted destinationof the rider electronic device based on a riding history associated witha rider using the rider electronic device.
 35. The portable electronicdevice of claim 32, wherein the data processor accesses a rider profileof a rider using the portable electronic device, the rider profilecomprising at least one of a rider route history, a rider travel timehistory, a predicted rider route, a predicted ride time, or consumptionpreferences.
 36. The portable electronic device of claim 35, wherein theadvertisement information is based on a correlation between attributesof available advertisement offers and attributes of the rider profile.37. The portable electronic device of claim 36, wherein the attributesof available advertisement offers comprise at least one of an offerlocation, an offer time, an offer price, or an offer phone number. 38.The portable electronic device of claim 36, wherein the attributes ofthe rider profile comprise at least one of a rider location, a ridertime of travel, a rider budget, or a rider advertisement preferences.39. The portable electronic device of claim 32, wherein the vehicleinformation further comprises a service status, the service status beingan in-service status or an out-of service status.
 40. The portableelectronic device of claim 32, wherein the vehicle information furthercomprises a rider count of the vehicle, the rider count being a numberof riders on the vehicle or a rider status indicating that the vehiclehas zero riders or a maximum number of riders.
 41. A transit systemcomprising: at least one driver electronic device and a rider electronicdevice, each electronic device comprising: a data processor; ageolocation component in communication with the data processor anddetermining a geolocation of the electronic device; and a display incommunication with the data processor and displaying a user interfacecomprising: a route selector; an interactive map; a route representationon the interactive map, the route representation corresponding to aroute selected on the route selector; and a real-time devicerepresentation on the interactive map at location corresponding to thegeolocation of the electronic device; a service provider devicecomprising a data processor in communication with the data processor ofthe driver electronic device and the data processor of the riderelectronic device, the data processor of the service provider device:receiving vehicle information of a vehicle from the driver dataprocessor, the vehicle information comprising a vehicle route and ageolocation of the vehicle; receiving a geolocation of the riderelectronic device from the rider data processor; and sending the vehicleinformation and advertisement information over a communication networkto the rider data processor, the advertisement information based on thevehicle information and the geolocation of the rider electronic device.42. The transit system of claim 41, wherein the display of eachelectronic device displays at least one real-time vehicle representationon the interactive map of any vehicles associated with any driverelectronic devices on the selected route.
 43. The transit system ofclaim 41, wherein the data processor of the service provider determinesthe advertisement information based on a rider profile associated with arider using the rider electronic device, the rider profile comprising atleast one of a rider route history, a rider travel time history, apredicted rider route, a predicted ride time, or consumptionpreferences.
 44. The transit system of claim 43, wherein the dataprocessor of the service provider determines the advertisementinformation based on a correlation between attributes of availableadvertisement offers and attributes of the rider profile.
 45. Thetransit system of claim 44, wherein the attributes of availableadvertisement offers comprise at least one of an offer location, anoffer time, an offer price, or an offer phone number.
 46. The transitsystem of claim 44, wherein the attributes of the rider profile compriseat least one of a rider location, a rider time of travel, a riderbudget, or a rider advertisement preferences or transportationpreferences.
 47. The transit system of claim 41, wherein theadvertisement information comprises advertisement representation datafor overlaying on the interactive map a representation of theadvertisement information along the vehicle route or at least near alocation of an establishment associated with the advertisementinformation.
 48. The transit system of claim 47, wherein theestablishment is located along at least the vehicle route, a predictedrider route for the rider electronic device, or a predicted destinationof the rider electronic device based on a riding history associated witha rider using the rider electronic device.
 49. A method comprising:receiving, at a computing device, a user profile comprising ageolocation of a user electronic device; sending, from the computingdevice, advertisement information of an advertisement provider over acommunication network to the user electronic device, advertisementinformation based on the user profile, the advertisement informationhaving one or more user selectable portions and including anadvertisement location; receiving a selection of a user selectableportion from the user; associating a time and a geolocation with theselection; and storing the selection of a user selectable portion of theadvertisement information and associated time and geolocation of theselection in non-transitory memory of the computing device.
 50. Themethod of claim 49, wherein the user profile further comprises at leastone of a user route history, a user travel time history, a predicteduser travel route, a predicted user travel time, consumptionpreferences, a user budget, user transportation preferences, or useradvertisement preferences.
 51. The method of claim 49, furthercomprising: determining a distance between the geolocation associatedwith the selection of the user selectable portion and the advertisementlocation; when the distance is within a first threshold distance,charging the advertisement provider a first fee rate; and when thedistance is within a second threshold distance, charging theadvertisement provider a second fee rate.
 52. The method of claim 49,further comprising sending from the computing device advertisementinformation to the user electronic device based on the selection of auser selectable portion of the advertisement information and associatedtime and geolocation of the selection.
 53. The method of claim 49,wherein the one or more user selectable portions comprise at least oneof a name of the advertisement provider, hours of operation, an address,a uniform resource locator link to the address, an offer uniformresource locator link, or a purchase uniform resource locator link. 54.The method of claim 53, further comprising, when the advertisementinformation comprises multiple user selectable portions, tracking aconversion of the user when the user selects multiple user selectableportions of the advertisement information.
 55. The method of claim 53,further comprising tracking a conversion of a user when the userexecutes a purchase operation through the advertisement information oraccepts an offer of the advertisement information.